Monday, March 7, 2011

Chilled Cauliflower Soup - serves 6

I spent this past weekend in Houston, sharing "girl time"with my mom, cousin, cousin's hubby and sister. Typically, it's a weekend of R & R, which in this case it was. We enjoyed pedicures, The Azalea Tour, lunch at Ruggles Green (great, by the way) and cooking all but one meal at home. As always, we all leave with recipes of what we've cooked. My sweet cousin made this delicious soup, along with a quinoa salad, that had all of us oooing and ahhhhing. When asked if she came up with it herself, we were told that she typed in the name on her computer and it popped right up. With few changes, she made it her own. It was too good not to share so I hope you get the opportunity to serve up a bowl yourself.

Ingredients

1 Fennel bulb, cleaned and sliced

1 Yellow onion, sliced

2 heads of cauliflower, cut into florets

2-4 cups vegetable stock (or No-Chicken Chicken Broth by Imagine)

1 tsp white pepper

Salt to taste

Optional: White Truffle Oil and chives, as a garnish, when served.

In a medium pan, add olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add fennel and onion. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and softened. Meanwhile, in a large stock pot, add 8 cups salted water (1/4 cup salt) and bring to a boil. Add cauliflower and boil until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Drain. Add fennel, onion and cauliflower into a blender. While blending, carefully add broth until mixture becomes creamy. (Be sure and cover the lid of your blender with a towel to keep lid from popping due to heat). After the vegetables are puréed, add the mixture back to the pot of your cauliflower and bring up to a light simmer. Cook for an additional 5 - 10 minutes. Add the remainder ingredients and cook additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, chill, then serve with drizzled oil and chives.